Although some Charlottesville residents altered their daily routine in response to the sniper attacks in the Richmond and Northern Virginia areas with mixed emotions, for others yesterday was business as usual.
"We're just concerned. We don't know what's going to happen," said William Proffitt, who owns the Wood Grill Buffet on Seminole Trail. "We're going to try to be cautious, but in that same respect, we can't let the sniper hurt the entire way we live."
Proffitt said he hasn't seen a downturn in customers as a result of the most recent shooting at a Ponderosa Steakhouse in Ashland.
As of this morning, Saturday's attack in Ashland, about 75 miles east of Charlottesville, was the nearest the sniper had come to the area.
Local gas stations have continued to draw business in spite of the shootings, said Alan Huestis, assistant manager of the Powell's Town and Country Exxon station at the intersection of Rt. 29 and Hydraulic Road.
Huestis also said he had noticed some changes in the behavior of customers.
"They've been following what they heard on radio and TV. They get between the car and the pump," Huestis said. "A lot of them sit down in the car while the gas is pumping, then they get out to disconnect and come pay."
Fourth-year College student Stephanie Phillips said she considered sniper worries when choosing a gas station.
"I tried to come to a gas station that was more open," Phillips said.
But she said the recent shootings have not deterred her from ordinary activities.
"If it's gonna happen -- I mean, it could be a car wreck, it could be anything, so you can't hide," Phillips said.
Many residents shared Phillips' mixed sentiments -- that being a sniper victim is possible, but also improbable.
"I lived through Vietnam. I'm not worried about it. The odds are one in 100,000," Huestis said.
Others carried on out of defiance.
"I think the whole thing is somebody out there trying to promote fear," Nellysford, Va., resident Diane Long said. "And I don't think that's acceptable, not in our lives."
Although some considered Charlottesville far enough away from the sniper's target area of Interstate 95 to be a safe distance from danger, they worried for friends and relatives.
"I'll admit when the shooting took place in Richmond, where my daughter is, I called her to make sure everything was okay," Huestis said.
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